There is a lot of confusion and misinformation in the manifesting community about what self concept really refers to. Most coaches and manifesting practitioners out there will usually define self concept (or concept of self) as your thoughts, beliefs, and assumptions about yourself. Some will even go a step further and define it as your own set of thoughts, beliefs and assumptions about yourself in relation to another person, situation, or circumstance in your life. This is why most of the time you are being told to affirm for your self concept if there are changes you want or feel you need to make. While all this is undoubtedly true and accurate, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Self concept actually goes much deeper than your beliefs about yourself, and while affirming for it is totally fine, I would argue that self concept actually encompasses your entire view of your entire world. Let’s dive in a little deeper.

Change your conception of yourself and you will automatically change the world in which you live.

Neville Goddard, “Your Faith is Your Fortune”

Neville spoke a lot about self concept, yet always in a broader, more encompassing way than most modern coaches do. Yes, it is all about who you think, feel, believe, assume yourself to be in each area and aspect of your life, but it actually also includes how you perceive everything and everyone else that comes into your 3D experience in one way or another. Let me explain. Those of us practicing conscious creation know that ‘the whole vast world is yourself pushed out’ to use another popular Neville quote. This means that everything and everyone we experience in our current reality is perceived and interpreted through the filter of our own self concept and it actually mirrors back to us a piece of our own consciousness.

Simply put, if I’m dominantly wearing the self concept of victimhood, I am likely to perceive anything my friend, specific person, colleague or anyone else in my reality does or says through that lens and interpret it as further confirmation of my existing victimhood bias, therefore most likely feel rejected, abandoned, unloved, unworthy, or wronged by them one way or another. This will also affect my view of what is or isn’t possible for me in my life, for example I may find it much harder to believe that I have a good shot at a promotion at work and may use my victimhood mentality to further confirm to myself that this is impossible for me because my boss hates me and my work colleagues are against me. Because I see myself through the filter of victimhood, I am also likely to attract circumstances and people in my life further confirming this bias, which may often come not just from myself but from other people as well and their own circumstances. For example, I may have a colleague at work who often complains to me about similar issues as the ones I myself always seem to face – how they are always passed up for a promotion, how the boss doesn’t like them, how they always get the worst shifts because the manager is on a mission to make their life miserable, or how they can never make ends meet with how much they’re getting paid. Over time, and usually without realizing, my concept of victimhood will also extend beyond my immediate life and environment and I will start seeing evidence of it anywhere I look, confirming my bias even more – for example, in the news, in social media, through stories I hear about friends of friends, or even broadly accepted concepts by society which further prove to me that my concept of the world is truly accurate. For remember, everything around us is in reality a manifested experience, forever matching our inner world and providing evidence of who we are within.

By contrast, if my dominant self concept is that of someone who is loved, appreciated, respected, seen and heard in their reality, my experience in life and the world is likely to be vastly different. To take the same examples as above, I probably already have my promotion at work which I got in a shorter time than most other people in my company, and I probably didn’t even think twice about whether I deserved it, or of any obstacles in pursuing it in the first place. I likely thought from the outset that I had a great chance of getting it because I’m great at what I do, my work is appreciated by my superiors and I know that my colleagues love me, just as I love them. Besides, I know I interview well and I further justify this to myself because I’ve been offered most jobs I’ve interviewed for in my career. My work environment is likely a healthy, fun one and I enjoy spending time with my teammates and forming connections with them. I don’t think anyone hates me, and even if I stumble on the occasional hiccup with someone at work, I confidently resolve the issue with them in a friendly and respectful manner, which actually has the positive side effect of bringing us closer as colleagues. I am likely to hear a lot about others’ work opportunities, successes and promotions, and my broader view of the world is also likely to mirror similar incidents back to me, for example my friend posting on social media about her new job offer, my other friend being super excited about starting their own business, and a third friend telling me about their brother moving to another country to pursue an exciting opportunity. I am also likely to think of others as successful, happy with their work lives and always progressing professionally in ways that satisfy and fulfill them. For my consciousness is what creates what I get to experience in my world and the world has no choice but to mirror back to me evidence of who I am inside through personal experiences, but also through other people and their own circumstances.

You see then that self concept goes far beyond who I perceive myself to be and that it actually reflects who I perceive the entire world to be, including who I am in relation to everything and everyone in my world and how the world treats me. It also includes what I feel and believe is possible for me and why, and what I expect to experience in each situation or circumstance involving myself and others – whether they are in my inner circle or whether it’s society as a whole. Simply put, self concept is the identity we dominantly wear in the world that determines what we see, perceive, focus on, believe, assume, think, feel, and ultimately what energy we put out into the world as well as what energy we receive back from the world around us.